Liam Ward just got the starter position on the hockey team and he’s determined to have the best year of his life. If only his teammates would stop pointing out how “grown-up” his best friend has become and putting thoughts he most definitely shouldn’t think about in his head.Evie Clark wasn’t supposed to fall in love with her best friend, but she did. She doesn’t know when or how it happened, … happened, only that one day being close to him brought butterflies to her belly and her heart would start racing every time he was near. If only the feeling were mutual.
Just when Evie thinks there might be hope for the two of them, she sees Liam flirting with another girl. To put a stop to her feelings before it’s too late, Evie will do anything, even go out with a football quarterback.
She might have put him in the penalty box, but the moment the timer buzzes, this hockey player is determined to win the game.
The Penalty Box is a complete standalone, sweet YA sports romance novella taking place in the world of Greyford High.
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The Penalty Box is the 4th book in the Greyford High Series, but can be read as a Stand-Alone. This is my first Anna B. Doe book; therefore, I have not read the first three Greyford High books, but I am most definitely planning to do so.
“I’ll always come back for you, Evie.”
The Penalty Box is a friends-to-lovers short story. Liam Ward and Evie Clark have been neighbors and best friends since they were kids. As time went by and they got older, Evie’s feelings change and she began to see Liam as more than her best friend. Liam, on the other hand didn’t immediately recognize that the feelings he had for Evie had also changed. Not wanting to ruin their friendship Evie kept her feelings to herself. Just when she decides to move on from any hope of her and Liam ever being more than friends, Liam realizes Evie is the one for him. What happens when two best friends are afraid to take their friendship to the next level?
This book was given to me an an ARC. I have been veering from YA but this one was a page turner and I loved it! I loved how they both knew when something didn’t feel right.
Liam was so cute, his personality and everything, except he did have some anger issues, which was only due to frustration of being ignored by Evie. Evie was so sweet. Her long time crush finally liked her back, only after a few obstacles.
Liam and Evie have been Best Friends since the womb. I think it is so cute how close they are. Always having each other’s back. So, there is this guy Noah, he’s a football player and into Evie. She keeps telling him no, but he is persistent. So when she needs a distraction from Liam, she says yes to Noah. The waters are getting rough once that happens. You are just going to have to read to find out what happens! 😉 Spoiler: This is an HEA
I recommend, it is a light cute read with a dash of pent up hormones.
The next book is called, “The Stand-In Boyfriend”, this is Jessy’s story and her romance with Noah. :0 I am reading that next and am excited to see where that goes.
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: The Penalty Box
: Anna B. Doe
: 4/5
: .
I really liked this story and I kind of wish there was more. I think that’s also why I feel like I couldn’t give it five stars, because I needed just a bit more time to get to know the characters. However, that said, for a short novella the character development is done especially well. The characters were very likable and sweet and it was easy for me to connect with them. The writing style was very pleasant and it is no surprise that I’ve read this novella in one sitting. I am a big fan of the friends to lovers trope and sport romances, so this was the perfect combo for me. The story follows Liam and Evie who have to overcome a couple of obstacles before they know what the mean to each other.. friends or maybe something more?? You’ll have to read this book yourself to find out what happens. I recommend this book for readers who want to read a sweet short love story and get away from the real world for a couple of hours.
My reviews are also available with photo at my Bookstagram: @justmyfantasyworld
This is a quick best friend to lovers romance that hit me in the feels.
Liam has been best friends with Evie for as long as they can remember. Suddenly Evie starts getting attention from the guys around him, and he has to deal with strange new feelings that aren’t of the best friend kind. Evie has been in love with Liam for a while, but is scared to rock the boat as he may not feel the things she does. If she ruins her relationship with her best friend she doesn’t know what she will do.
These two have to quickly figure out where things stand as Evie handles the new attention, and Liam deals with the fact that she may not be his alone forever. I always love going back to Greyford High, and Doe scored a goal with this one!
The Penalty Box by Anna B. Doe is a short and sweet YA romance novella featuring best friends to lovers, Evie and Liam. Although this novella is part of the Greyford High Universe, it can be read as a standalone. I read this in one sitting. Even though it is short, the author provides enough depth to the characters that it still has the emotional quality of a lengthier novel. Although the story was overall sweet, there was still some angst and conflict woven throughout the pages. I would highly recommend this novella for fans of romance or readers of the Greyford High series!
Anna B. Doe’s The Penalty Box is the fourth book in the Greyford High series but can be read as a stand alone without getting lost… but it might just make you need to read tge rest of series if you haven’t already. This is a sweet but slightly angsty (they are teenagers, of course there is angst!) Young Adults sports romance where two best friends finally discover tgey could be much more…. even if they need to go through a few obstacles before embracing the chance. Liam and Evie took me back to high school and reminded me of the beauty, sweetness but also confusion that cones with young love.
The Penalty Box is incredibly sweet friends-to-lovers YA sports romance novella written in dual POV that gave me the feels.
Evie’s feelings for Liam have changed some time ago, and in a fear that she would ruin their friendship if she said anything to him, she kept her crush on him a secret. Liam on the other hand does not see Evie this way, that is until she starts to get noticed by other guys and that does not sit well with him. It is not exactly a cakewalk, instead the couple has some struggles to get through before they get their happily ever after. But it’s the hard that makes it great! If it was easy, the reward wouldn’t be as sweet.
I liked both Evie and Liam, often feeling sorry for them both. I felt sorry for Evie because she was so obviously in love with Liam but he was too clueless to notice. Liam, on the hand, is so confused by his feelings that he lashes out as he does not know how else to deal with his new-found feelings towards his best friend, which almost causes him to lose Evie before he even has the chance to have her.
The Penalty Box is a complete standalone in the Greyford High universe, and I would recommend reading it if you’re in mood for something short and sweet and something that will completely melt your heart.
The Penalty Box is a sweet, YA novella set in the Greyford High world. I love Liam and Evie! They’ve been best friends their whole lives, but when Evie realizes her feelings have grown it puts their friendship in danger.
This friends-to-lovers story has just enough tension and drama, and worked well in a novella format. It didn’t feel rushed or missing detail to make it work in a shorter story. It’s a perfect, quick read, and I look forward to more stories in this series!
This is my first book by Anna that I’ve read and I really enjoyed this quick novella. This is a best friends to lovers story. But it didn’t happen over night, It took some time for each of them to share their feelings with one another. This book follows Liam and Evie. Best friends. Evie wants more, Liam is clueless. When Evie starts to get noticed by others, Liam starts to really think about his true feelings for Evie. Pick up this book today to find out how these two best friends finally become more.
The Penalty box is a sweet and short friends to lovers novella. It features Liam and Evie, best friends since forever. They start to develop feelings for each other, but they are too afraid to confess, because they do not want to break their friendship. So in this book we get to know how their relationship starts.
It was a short read, and fast paced, without too much drama. I enjoyed reading it and it can be read without reading the other books in the series.
* Received an ARC for a honest review.
Evie Clark and Liam Ward have been friends for a long time now, but somewhere along the line it became something more for one of them, while the other was oblivious to the change. That is until his friends start making comments about the “new” Evie and she catches the eye of the school’s star quarterback.
Now she is moving on without him and he is wondering if he let the best thing to happen to him slip through his fingertips. Is it too late for them? Is risking their friendship for love worth it? Liam is at a complete loss, he must make a decision and quick before she gives her heart to someone else!
The Penalty Box is a short but oh so sweet novella that will have your heart soaring and leave you feeling those first love feelings all over again! Nothing is sweeter than young love, albeit the dramatic stuff that comes along with it, and these two definitely had a lot of the dramatic stuff. Watching Evie consider giving up on her feelings for Liam and sharing her heart with someone else was rough on the feels, not to mention watching Liam fight his indecision about taking their friendship to a new level as well. But they eventually got themselves on the right track, and it was smooth, heart-rejoicing, sailing from there. I really enjoyed this one, the characters were easy to love and the words were impossible to pry my eyes from… it was the perfect little afternoon literary escape! Highly recommend!
I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest and unbiased opinion.
3.75 Stars
This was really sweet and a whole lot of fun. I really love best friends to lovers stories and though I would really love to have seen more of the relationship between Liam and Evie that’s more greed talking than anything else. A big thank you to the author who allowed me to review this and I volunteered to leave an unbiased review. My review is not influenced in any way.
I really love Anna’s writing style, while this time the book is short and I finished in one sitting, it doesn’t lack romance, sweetness and love. This best friends to lovers romance is cute and sweet, it will worth your while.
Liam and Evie have been best friends since forever, probably since when they were still in their mom’s bellies. They do a lot together and they are there for each other at all times. If they have a guarantee in life is that they will be in each other’s lives.
But then Evie’s feelings start to change to more than friends and his obnoxiously unaware of it. Until two things happens at once: 1) his friends start to notice her as growing up woman and 2) she sees him “flirting” with another girl and decides that it was enough. She would move on and goes out Noah, a guy who’s been asking her out for a long time.
It’s funny how Liam is personification of the expression: you never know what you have until it’s gone. But when he finally sees the truth in front of him, he works up to have her back as his best friend and his forever.
This book is sweet and I really like how in the end they love each other fiercely. And everyone already knows how much I like sports romance too! I can’t wait to read more books from the Greyford High series.
The Penalty Box is the perfect, enchanting friends to lovers story. Liam and Evie have been best friends from birth. They live next door to each other, mom’s are best friends. Friendship was inevitable but what happens when one starts to feel more? A whirlwind of emotion and heated exchanges commence. Will they risk their friendship for love? I loved this sweet read and couldn’t put it down. This book is a must read!
Such a sweet and swoon full read. The Penalty Box by Anna B. Doe is the perfect mix of high school drama and young romance. I really enjoyed reading this and look forward to the next instalment on this series.
Evie and Liam have been best friends for ever. There’s always one ahead of the other when tables start to turn in friendships but not knowing who and what will happen is always fun to read.
This comes recommended.
The Penalty Box is the fourth book in Greyford High Series. It can be read as a standalone. This is a fast paced, fun, sweet read with just a tad of angst. Evie and Liam have been best friends for most of their lives, however their relationship seems to be changing , and neither of them are quite sure what to do about that. Will this be the end of them?
I enjoyed this best friends to lovers story.
This was a very cute and fun read about Evie and Liam who grew up best friends. Evie knows things have changed for her in their dynamic because she doesn’t see Liam as a bff any more she wants it all with him but she’s scared to cross the line. Liam still sees Evie as a friend but when his friends start talking about how much she has grown into herself and should start dating things change for him. These two have chemistry like no other but both are afraid things aren’t reciprocated until jealousy sets in and they can’t fight it any more. Loved these guys so much.
Did I said how much I love books with matching names? #Livie
The love story of Liam and Evie is very short, and left me totally wanting more.
Evie and Liam have been friends since forever. He’s always been protective of her. She’s been in love with him for quite some time.
It turns out that they are now young adults, and while he becomes a star on the hockey team at Greyford High, the other boys start to notice how Evie is becoming incredible, and that is upsetting Liam.
When Evie notices that Liam doesn’t see her the way she wants, she decides to move on and try to fall in love with someone else.
And that’s when he realizes that he needs to make a choice between assuming his feelings for her, or let her go.
This is the cutest and most beautiful high school romance novella!!! Liam and Evie have known each other since they were babies; they developed the best of friendships over the years but suddenly it all changed, and their feelings were evolving to something more. But what happens when you don’t know how to move from friends to lovers with your best friend? There must be one big event for one of them to notice what they are close to losing…
This book was a fun read. It has swoon worthy moments that will remind you what true love should be about. Evie and Liam, best friends since forever are experiencing what it is like to have feelings for your best friend, the person who knows you best. Can they break the wall they have built around their friendship to be more or will they be friend zoned forever?!!!
Quick fun read, that will have you thinking about young love and how romantic it is.